


Exceeding the Limit. Again.

by YertzNilo357



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 05:52:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17482391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YertzNilo357/pseuds/YertzNilo357
Summary: Basically a time sink inspired by something I read on Reddit.





	Exceeding the Limit. Again.

It was a normal Saturday night. I sat at my personal desk, with my favourite brand of Firewhiskey. It was an 18 year Salem Malt, a brand made distinct by the fact it was actually technically a bourbon, not a whiskey. Even more technically, it wasn't 18 years old, it was a 12 Knut bottle from Fresco's Discount Libations. It was also not a Salem Malt but a Fletcher Firewhiskey, most famous for being a decent cauldron cleaning agent.

A teacher's salary is not generous, especially not if you spend most of it on pot plants and assorted fronds.

I sighed. I had to stop putting it off. I had to do it soon. But not yet. More booze was required; more extra mental fortitude.

 

I had to mark  _her_ essay eventually.

 

The bane of every teacher's existence who taught at Hogwarts, except for Minerva. Crazy old bat, while a truly lovely woman, was too damn straight-laced for her own good. Every Sunday she stumbled into the staff room, eyes blood shot, body trembling and soul clearly struggling to remain attached to her physical form. I always had a coffee ready. Even Severus, that degenerate rat bastard, made sure to have her favourite shortbread in hand, to give her the extra incentive to return to us. To return to the land of the living.

 

Minerva always read  _every damn word._ Then gave specialised commentary as to which parts could be improved. Which was generally nothing beyond 'Research is excellent. Expression is excellent. All sources are fitting. Structure is impeccable. All arguments soundly backed.  _ **PLEASE ADHERE TO THE WORD AND LENGTH LIMIT.'**_

That was all that could be commented on, because the work was always damn brilliant.

Hermione Granger was, even by my standards, a damn genius. But she sucked at keeping to the allocated length.

 

Every time. EVERY TIME.  _EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME._  

 

She would average 110% for every subject and every piece of work submitted if she didn't always lose marks for  _exceeding the damn word limit._

 

I drank deep. Even Albus, great man that he, admittedly, is, turned white when I showed him the first paper she ever submitted for my class.

_"How is this possible?"_ he whispered.  _"It asked for 12 inches of parchment or 500 words. How did she use up two full scrolls?"_

It was only the next day, when he held a meeting stating we should nurture her desire to learn and write, that I realised his reaction was not disbelief and disgust.

 

It was awe.

In hindsight, it should have been expected from another transcendent lunatic/genius, such as Albus. I had had the same problem, when I excelled at Hogwarts.

 

I finished marking Mr Weasley's paper. 'Research good. Expression above the standard expected. Good structure, though avoid run on sentences.  _ **ADHERED TO WORD LIMIT.'**_

 

Now, it was time. I always kept it to last. Doing it too early was always a chore and I usually just skimmed it. Even that hook nosed grease baby Snape would agree  _"Her work is always fantastic"_ in his weirdly sensual voice.

All the teachers would only skim her work, except for Minerva. We knew it would be good. we knew it would be perfect. And we knew it would be too long to read. It would exceed the limit. 

 

With that, I downed my glass and spent four minutes crying and coughing. 'Twas a truly horrible drop, this Fletcher Firewhisky. 

 

At least I had an out. I would only stay a year, then I would be free from the tsunami of words.

 

..............

 

I just needed to get that damn Stone.

 

 


End file.
